school funding | Schools Week

Budget 2021 a ‘missed opportunity’ with no extra funding for schools

This year’s budget has been described as a “missed opportunity” for education after it failed to provide additional cash for schools. Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s budget focused on measures to help the country recover economically from the pandemic, extending the furlough scheme until September and raising incentives to hire apprentices. But there was no extra funding […]

Another university technical college faces uncertain future despite emergency government funding

The future of another university technical college hangs in the balance, despite it receiving emergency funding. East London UTC was given its second financial notice to improve last month – after a £375,000 government bailout last year. It also chalked up a £1.8 million deficit in 2020. The college’s 2019-20 accounts show the Department for […]

National Tutoring Programme: Schools could pay 90% of session costs within three years as DfE ‘tapers’ subsidies

Government plans to “taper” subsidies for tuition delivered by its flagship National Tutoring Programme could leave schools having to pay 90 per cent of the cost of sessions within three years. The Department for Education has published a £62 million tender for a supplier to run the NTP between May this year and next August. […]

School funding chiefs at education committee: 9 things we learned

Government school funding bosses were quizzed by MPs this morning about catch-up funding, the pupil premium and school spending. The Parliamentary education committee held a hearing with Department for Education director of strategic finance Tony Foot, director for qualifications, curriculum and extra-curricular Graham Archer and Education and Skills Funding Agency director of academies and maintained […]

1 in 8 LA-maintained schools now in deficit as primaries’ financial health worsens

One in eight local authority-maintained schools were in deficit in the last financial year, up from less than one in ten the year before. Local authority school expenditure data, published by the Department for Education today, found the proportion of LA schools in deficit rose to 12 per cent in 2019-20, up from 9.9 per […]

Alternative provision in crisis: deficits, closed sites and restructures

A leading alternative provision setting is being forced to close a specialist site due to a creaking high-needs funding system exacerbated by Covid. Others facing six-figure deficits are considering restructures. The London East Alternative Provision (LEAP) will have to close the Tommy Flowers Vocational Centre in Whitechapel at the end of the year despite delivering […]

Real-terms boost from extra school funding wiped out by Covid

Per-pupil funding actually fell in real terms this year after changes to prices as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic were taken into account, leaving the government short of its target to boost budgets to above 2010 levels. New analysis by the Department for Education shows average per-pupil funding for five to 16-year-olds fell by […]

Deprived schools will struggle to meet Covid costs, finds NFER report

One in four schools may not be able to meet Covid-related costs despite increased funding from government, and deprived schools will be among the hardest-hit, a new report has found. Analysis by the National Foundation for Educational Research found that existing inflationary pressures, such as teacher pay rises, mean the £2.6 billion increase in school […]

DfE pledges staff absence funding to keep schools open, but only after reserves are raided

The government has said it will help cover the costs of staff absences to keep schools open this term, but leaders will have to deplete their reserves before becoming eligible. The Department for Education has today announced the creation of a short-term “Covid workforce fund”, which will be backdated to November 1 and will cover […]